ON THEIMPROVED BEET ROOT,ASWINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.
ON THEIMPROVED BEET ROOT,ASWINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.
ON THEIMPROVED BEET ROOT,ASWINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.
ON THE
IMPROVED BEET ROOT,
AS
WINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.
CHAP. I.
The garden at Cheese Cross produced a fine crop of the Improved Beet Root. The roots, when about the size of a radish, were thinned out with a turnip hoe, leaving the plants nearly 15 inches apart each way. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 360 roots, equal to29,040 roots upon an acre. They weighed from 1 pound to 12 pounds each, and 10 of them, taken up indiscriminately, weighed 40 pounds. Supposing them, therefore, to average 4 pounds each, theweightupon an acre would be something more than 50 tons. One hundred weight, cut into small pieces for the cattle, measured 2 bushels. Thequantityper acre may therefore be estimated at 2000 bushels, 2 bushels are given to each bullock daily: 196 bushels, the produce of only about a tenth part of an acre of garden ground, planted in this way, would keep a bullock 14 weeks.
In Mason’s field, on the road from Bedfords to Havering, another fine crop was obtained. The roots, when about the size of a radish, were taken out of the seed bed, and planted in rows, 3 feet asunder, and the plants were about 18 inches apart in each row. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 126 roots, equal to 10,164 roots upon an acre. These roots weighed, on an average, 5 pounds each, so that the weight upon an acre would be something more than 22 tons. Each bullock eats 1 cwt. per day. The produce of 1 acre of ground, planted in this way, would keep 4 bullocks feeding for 110 days.
In another part of the same field, on the road from Bedfords to Havering, the seed was dibbled in rows, 2 feet apart, and the plants were left 12 inches apart in each row. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 270 roots; equal to 21,780 roots upon an acre. These roots average a little more than 5 pounds each. The weight upon an acre would therefore be something more than 48 tons. Each bullock eats 1 cwt. per day. The produce of 1 acre of land, planted in this way, would keep 10 bullocks feeding for 97 days.